It is desirable to hold a document or a book in position between a keyboard and a monitor so that a person working at a computer work station can more easily transcribe or edit materials on the computer without having to turn to one side to look at a document. The general limitation to providing an inline document holder is a lack of depth of a traditional work surface. There is usually not room between a computer and a keyboard or between a monitor and a keyboard to provide an inline document holder. In the cases where there is room between a monitor and keyboard there is a need to raise the monitor height so that both the monitor and the document to be viewed can be seen without obstruction. For this reason, it is desirable to have a inline document holder and monitor riser combination which will elevate the monitor to approximately the eye level of the user, and to have a keyboard tray which can (extend the keyboard location beyond the edge of a desk or work surface to permit room for the copy holder between the keyboard and the computer monitor.
Many prior art copy holders must be placed to one side of the computer rather than between the computer keyboard and the display. This placement forces the computer operator to constantly look to the left or right to view the copy, often causing neck and back strain, as well as resulting in inefficient work. Other disadvantages of prior art copy holders include their inability to support large or heavy documents, difficulty in accessing computer disk drives, and relatively small surfaces for holding documents.
The prior art includes several attempts to create inline document holders as well as a number of copy holders which are designed to be held at the side of the monitor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,775 to Long discloses an inline copy holder stand equipped with a forwardly inclinable copy holder back which allows access to the computer disk drives. A brace maintains the copy holder back in a generally upright position in which the back is used to hold the copy material. A disadvantage of this design is the requirement to pivot the entire copy holder back forward over the documents in order to access the disk drive of the computer. A preferable method of access for the disk drive is to slide the copy material to the side or merely pick up the material and copy support plate. This simple method of access is possible with the current invention because the copy support plate is completely unattached and merely rests against the base plate, support ridge and front surface of the monitor riser supports. The mechanism of the '775 patent is more complicated than the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,876 to Hatcher, issued on Sep. 26, 1995, describes a copy holder for use inline with a monitor stand which comprises a pull -out copy holder and an incline of about 22 with respect to the table top surface. An object of the present invention is to provide a simpler copy holder which also provides a room for a keyboard and which provides a greater angle of holding the copy for more effective viewing by the user and which is ergonomically correct. It is a further object of the current invention to provide a simple mechanical apparatus providing that copy holding function that does not involving bolting any fixture to a desk or work surface. The current invention permits the use of additional interchangeable copy support plate of varying sizes to accommodate the needs of a user who may have a large work project requiring placement of multiple pages in line of view for reference at the same time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,086 issued to Ramey et al on Apr. 14, 1992, describes a generally planar base plate with an upstanding easel which has a projecting lip. The easel is vertically adjustable and transversely slidable to permit access to the computer disk drive. In addition to its simplicity, an advantage to the present invention involves the ability to effectively hold a book in an open position and allow a one handed turning of pages with the new pages being held in an open position by the pressure of the inclined rest plate.
In addition to the attempt for inline copy holders there have been a number of designs involving the placement of the copy to the side of the computer monitor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,924, issued on Mar. 31, 1998, to Hegarty and Terc describes a counter balanced copy holder which is typically attached to a monitor. That copy holder includes a support arm for orienting the copy holder in space to either the right or left of the computer monitor. The present invention is simpler and requires no support arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,651,524 issued on Jul. 29, 1997, to Calfee for adjustable document holder for a computer work station describes a document holder which may be positioned along three mutually perpendicular axes and which may be rotated about one of the axis to place the easel in a selective working position.
A problem with prior art computer copy holders is that the copy holders are designed for only a few specific types of computers. Thus, prior art work stations were not always designed to permit disk entry access from different locations, nor to retain various types and sizes of disk drive units, monitors and keyboard placements.
It is an object of the current invention to provide a inexpensive document holder to hold documents in a convenient inline manner between the user, the computer keyboard and the computer monitor.
It is a further object of the current invention to provide a inexpensive document holder to hold heavy documents such as books in a convenient inline manner between the user, the computer keyboard and the computer monitor.
It is a further object of the current invention to provide a document holder which will hold single sheets, small tablets or larger books in place without the need for clips, springs or other devices to hold open a document.
It is a further object of the current invention to provide a document holder that is adjustable in a simple manner from a single document to a relatively thick book.
It is a further object of the current invention to reduce the number of mechanisms, avoid the use of an arm device and provide a detached copy support plate for ease of use.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a document holder for a book which will permit the pages of the book to be turned and held in an open position without the requirement of a spring, clip or other device.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a combination document holder, keyboard tray and monitor riser that will serve to raise the monitor to an eye level position for the user.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a simple combination device with a keyboard tray in a manner that increases the effective width of a work surface to permit room for an inline document holder on virtually any size desk or table.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a simple combination device with a keyboard tray in a manner that increases the effective work surface by providing a storage space for a keyboard when the computer is not in use.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a simple combination device with a keyboard tray that is not attached by bolts, screws or other fasteners to anything, thereby allowing easy removal for storage when not in use.
It is a further object of the current invention to provide a document holder that can hold multiple pages or an open book and a page simultaneously by increasing the number or size of detached and removable copy easels.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a simple mechanical device that will work equally well with tower style or desktop style computers so as to be capable of utilization with substantially all computer hardware.
It is further object of the current invention to provide a simple relatively inexpensive document holding capability without requirement for moving parts or a large number of parts.
A further object of the current invention is to provide a computer work station which permits access to the disk drive while maintaining the copy holder stand in an upright position.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a computer workstation which is economical to manufacture, refined in appearance, and simple to utilize but nevertheless maximizes function. These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a inline document holder which is simply and easily adjustable for varying thickness of documents without the necessity of having an additional holding mechanism.
The terms copy holder, easel, and tray are generic descriptions of support means, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that many types of supports may be employed in the invention. Terms such as front, rear, top, bottom, left, and right are used to communicate the nature of the invention and not to restrict its application.